Prior studies have examined factors attributable to resilience and have found individual, family, and community characteristics that contribute to the construct's protective power. However, resilience factors protective for the negative effects of household dysfunction in the context of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been seldom researched (Benzies & Mychasiuk 2009). This study examined the relationships among household dysfunction, externalizing behaviors, and community cohesion in U.S. adolescents.


Data for this study were obtained through the largest ongoing longitudinal research initiative on adolescent development: the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (ABCD). Participants included N = 11,868 youth (52% male and 97.1% US born) and their parents/guardians. This study analyzed the following constructs assessed using a combination of adolescent and parent/guardian reports: household dysfunction (measured at adolescent age 9-10; Wave 1), adolescent externalizing behaviors (measured at age 11-12 and 12-13; Waves 3 and 4), and community cohesion (measured at Wave 3).


Multiple regression analyses suggested a significant moderating effect of community cohesion for the predictive effect of household dysfunction on Wave 3 externalizing behaviors: B = -.288; SE = .051; p < .001. In addition, community cohesion served as a moderator for the relationship between household dysfunction and Wave 4 externalizing behaviors: B = -.261; SE = .054; and p < .001. Dummy-coded demographic covariates such as adolescent sex, race/ethnicity, and nativity were controlled for in the analyses.


Findings of this study suggest that factors such as community cohesion could moderate the negative effects of household dysfunction on externalizing behaviors for adolescents both concurrently and longitudinally. These findings indicate that strengthening community cohesion could serve as a possible intervention strategy to support adolescents who are at risk for developing externalizing behaviors due to experiencing dysfunctional household environments.